October 23, 2025 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 23.10.2025, 19:48

EU. It’s important to press ahead with the implementation of security and defence projects in close cooperation with the European Union and NATO, said Romania’s president Nicuşor Dan on Thursday in Brussels, where he attended a meeting of the European Council. The main subjects discussed were the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, European security and defence, EU competitiveness, access to housing, migration and the Republic of Moldova. Also in Brussels, Nicuşor Dan attended the Euro summit in extended format, where talks focused on the economic situation in the European Union, with an emphasis on the Economic and Monetary Union and digital euro. On Wednesday, the Romanian president took part in a working dinner held by the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, together with the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, on the sidelines of the EU-Egypt institutional summit.

Sanctions. The EU Council approved on Thursday morning its 19th set of sanctions against Russia. The set includes, among other things, bans on imports of Russian liquefied gas. The movements of Russian diplomats within the EU are also restricted. The sanctions were adopted a day after the US President Donald Trump announced a tightening of US sanctions against Russia. They target the largest Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. These are the first sanctions introduced by Washington since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The US president also canceled the summit with his counterpart Vladimir Putin, which was supposed to take place in Budapest, after Moscow refused a ceasefire in Ukraine along the front line.

By-election. The government of Romania passed a draft resolution on Thursday setting the date of the by-election for mayor of Bucharest, the president of the Buzău County Council and mayors of 12 other electoral districts. The calendar of these elections was also approved. Recently, the parties in the ruling coalition agreed that the elections for mayor of Bucharest should take place on December 7. The post has been vacant since the election of Nicuşor Dan as president of Romania. Under the Romanian law, mayors and heads of county councils are elected in a single round.

Moldova. The president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, has invited the parliamentary parties and groups in the new Legislative Assembly in Chisinau to consultations to appoint a new prime minister. On Wednesday, in an address before the MPs elected on September 28, Maia Sandu emphasised that Moldova needs unity and dedication, now more than ever. Also on Wednesday, Igor Grosu, the leader of the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party, which won the legislative elections, was re-elected as Speaker of Parliament. He announced that the main goal of the current Parliament is for Moldova to sign the EU accession treaty by 2028.

Economy. The European Commission has approved the final draft of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, worth a total of 21.4 billion euros. In the initial draft, the plan amounted to 28.5 billion euros. The decision marks the end of the Plan’s renegotiation process, which is now realistic, supports the economy and local communities, prime minister Ilie Bolojan said. He added that the money will go towards investments in infrastructure, hospitals, digitisation, green energy and streamlining the administration.